#19 Honor the Holy Spirit that comes from God

A blessed Saturday to everyone (".)

It's September 3 and we are now in Chapter 3 in The Book of Mark. May we all again be reminded that when we contemplate on God's Words, our lives are enriched through it, we are guided by it, protected and encouraged.

Glory to our beautiful God and most wonderful Lord!

Psalm 119:105

Your word is a lamp for my feet, 

a light on my path.

Mark 3 (excerpts)

Jesus Heals on the Sabbath 

4 Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.

5 He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. 6 Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

Crowds Follow Jesus 

7 Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed. 8 When they heard about all he was doing, many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon. 9 Because of the crowd he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, to keep the people from crowding him. 10 For he had healed many, so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch him. 11 Whenever the impure spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” 12 But he gave them strict orders not to tell others about him.

Jesus Appoints the Twelve 

14 He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15 and to have authority to drive out demons. 16These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter), 17 James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”), 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Jesus Accused by His Family and by Teachers of the Law 

20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

22 And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”

23 So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.26 And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. 27 In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house. 28 Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”

30 He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.”

31 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”

33 “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.

34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”
(complete text--
 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=mark%203&version=NIV)

Our Loving Lord, Jesus Christ, came into this world to extend His help, His healing and most especially, His love. Many followed Him, they sought for healing and He did not fail them, more than that, He preached the good news. 

But there are also people, mostly teachers of the law, the all-knowing ones, who accused Him of being one with "impure spirit", and yet our Loving God, Jesus, did not retaliate, but instead, He spoke in parable:

"Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin."

So what is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? 

Blasphemy-- generally defined as “defiant irreverence.” 

The term can be applied to such sins as cursing God or willfully degrading things relating to God. It is also attributing some evil to God, or denying Him some good that we should attribute to Him. 

“The blasphemy against the Holy Spirit”- has to do with someone accusing Jesus Christ of being demon-possessed instead of Spirit-filled. 

The closest example today would be attributing the miracle of a redeemed person’s changed life to Satan’s power rather than to the effects of the indwelling Holy Spirit. 

The blasphemy of the Spirit today, which is the same as the unpardonable sin, is the state of continued unbelief. There is no pardon for a person who dies in unbelief. Continual rejection of the Holy Spirit’s promptings to trust in Jesus Christ is the unpardonable blasphemy against Him. 

Remember what is stated in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Further on in the same chapter is the verse “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him” (John 3:36). 

The only condition wherein someone would have no forgiveness is if he is not among the “whoever believes in Him,” for it is he who “rejects the Son.”

(ref: Got Questions: Bible-answered questions)

But how would we know if the Spirit in us is from God?

1 John 3:24

The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and He in them. And this is how we know that He lives in us: We know it by the Spirit He gave us.

1 John 4:1-6

1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them.6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

Inspirational Prayer:

Dear Jesus, we have not met you personally but we are so grateful that we have the Holy Spirit in us, signifying You are with us in Spirit. Living our lives for You is more than wonderful and beautiful. May we continue to honor you with our lives everyday, every moment, every breath. Thank you for the gift of life. This we pray in Your Mighty name, Amen.

"Finally, be strong in the LORD and in His mighty power!"- Ephesians 6:10